Gather Ye Lilacs While Ye May

Wonderful crop this year…

Eddy. :)

Made up some…

the other day. I like the texture of lilac flowers. They’re a little chewy. :)

New Fruit

Dad and I have started planting the garden. Chives, cucumbers, and the different kinds of tomatoes and peppers went in on Monday; but yesterday we put in a couple of very special new arrivals.

Three varieties of grapes:

Green (Marquis Seedless)

Red (Reliance Seedless)

and Purple (Concord Seedless)

Also six blackberry plants

The blackberries seem very hardy. I picked out a variety that should produce fruit the first year. I hope both things do well! We’ve never grown either of them before.

We have yet to put the trellises up.

That’s our ornamental plum in the background. It was in an absolute glory of pink flowers for a little while there.

Dad got a new apple tree from town for the garden. It’s little flowers were fading when he planted it. I’m not sure if it has any left now.

He bought it to cross-pollinate the lonely apple tree we already have out there. I ended up putting a bucket of apple blossoms by the bigger apple tree this year, in the hopes that some of its blossoms would get pollinated that way. I also tried to do a little hand-pollinating. We’ll see what happens!

After this we need to plant beets, green beans, spinach etc. etc. :)

Tornado Alley

That’s where I live. We’re under a watch right now. That means that none have been spotted; but the conditions are favorable.

So far we’ve just had thunder, lightning, and a bit of rain.

I added a hot pink star to this picture that sort-of shows you my location.

commons.wikimedia.org

I’ve never seen a tornado pass by—only little dust devils. :) 

www.weatherquestions.com

But there was at least one time that one wasn’t too far from our place. Huh, I made a post about tornadoes without one creepy picture. I’ll spare you. :)

Wild Violets #3

Here’s a recipe I came up with to use some leftover violets(from making vinegar). :)

Serves 1 as a meal, or 2-4 as part of a meal.

Combine:

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup shredded chicken

2-3 tsp. dill

7 leaves purple(or regular) basil, torn

2-3 Tbsp. sour cream

Spoon onto greens. Top with freshly ground black pepper and dot with violets. :)

Wild Violets #2

I love violets so much…

Ok, onto the project. Here is a link to the recipe for violet vinegar.

http://www.americanvioletsociety.org/Cooking_N_Decorating/Recipe_Violet_Vinegar.htm

I recommend using a deep measuring pitcher while gathering, both to get the right amount, and so your flowers don’t blow all over the place.

Wash and dry your little jewels.

Bottle in rice or champagne vinegar…

and 3 to 4 days later, voila!

Wild Violets #1

If you are fortunate enough to live among wild violets that aren’t sprayed with chemicals…you can have a lot of fun. :)

Busy day cake with chocolate frosting and wild violets

Make sure to gently wash and dry your flowers and/or leaves(Yes,you can eat the leaves too!). Violet flowers have a very mild, almost lettuce-like taste. I saw so many things that you could make with the violet plant—syrup, tea etc.—but I’ll just show you a couple of other easy and inspiring ideas(besides the one above)in two forthcoming posts.

I have been looking forward to this! :)

Mother’s Day 2013

Made an early Mother’s day breakfast with banana-chocolate bread pudding, and banana-mango smoothies with raspberry syrup. :)

The cake is for today,though. It smells so good! It’s chocolate through and though, with ground culinary lavender, and a little bit of ground coffee(substituted for espresso powder). You can find the recipe in “The Lavender Cookbook” by Sharon Shipley.

Have a great day everyone!

Hello Spring 2013!

A few pictures to greet the season…

Seedlings growing on an old bridge beam

Heron tracks in the creek

A male and female blue winged teal (I had to lie on my belly for this picture. Those birds are sharp!)

Daffodils

Grape Hyacinth and…

My little Pete. :)

Patches (Pooky) Magdalena (Aug.1997-May 2013)

Goodbye little friend. You were so very loved.

She liked:

*popcorn, peanut butter, and “Peeps”

*being massaged while Shaina was stretching

*being up on the cabinet while people were showering

*Going outside when the weather was nice and “helping” Shaina put laundry on the line

*killing laundry for her family by howling and dragging it around the house

*being cradled like a baby

*begging for food and

*eating crabgrass :)

She was very patient and trusting. You could toss her like a baby and it didn’t faze her! She was one of those pets that families don’t forget. She was a part of the family.